PLANTING FOR LANDSCAPE EFFECT. 



unsurpassable, and that in his own craft, if it was to be successful, he must be content, 

 like Nature, to work for many years, with sustained and unflagging effort, taking her 

 for his guide at every point and studying her excellences. 



It would be impossible, within the compass of one short chapter, to trace to their 

 sources all the pleasures to be derived from woodland .and forest. It is even impossible 

 to examine in detail Nature's methods in their production, and we can only point the 

 way to these ends, leaving the reader to apply the broad principles indicated. 



Choice of The first practical question the planter must face is Of what materials shall the 



material for plantations for a given site be composed ? This will need fresh consideration in every 



planting. case, for what will thrive in one instance will not in another ; and, again, much will 



depend on the scale of the planting. With regard to the first of these considerations, 



the planter cannot do better than rely on his observation of what trees are found to 



succeed well in the immediate neighbourhood, coupled with the information he can gain by 



a visit to the local nurseries, and by talking to the nurseryman. Due allowance will, 



however, have to be 

 made for the tendency 

 of the professional 

 arboriculturalist to 

 disparage that which is 

 common, and to admire 

 only that which is rare 

 and difficult .to obtain. 

 That a thing is common, 

 other things being equal, 

 should predispose us to 

 plant it, for it is sure to 

 succeed, and a commoner 

 variety of tree growing 

 luxuriantly must always 

 give infinitely greater 

 pleasure than a 

 rarer one desperately 

 struggling for exist- 

 ence against adverse 

 conditions. Too many 

 gardens are spoiled by 

 this defect. 



This local information is most important, for, if we are tempted to generalize or 

 work by rule, we may be sadly undeceived later on. Thus, in the English Lake District, 

 where, to quote a local saying, " if you thrust in your walking stick it will sprout," 

 we might be tempted to imagine that there would be no danger in planting such a 

 common and hardy-looking subject as Euonymus japonica, which, however, we should find 

 would not do at all well. On the other hand, we shall discover, growing up the wall of 

 the Scotch crofter's cottage, a delicate-looking and beautiful climber, the Tropffiolum 

 speciosum, or flame flower, which is exactly the kind of thing which we should expect 

 to benefit by shelter and careful cultivation, and yet large sums of money have been 

 spent in the vain endeavour to make it grow in some positions in the South of England. 

 This careful study of local conditions has another aspect, for by this means we shall 

 preserve the individuality of the locality. Thus, Groombridge, in Kent is noted for its 

 holm oaks (Quercus Ilex), and North Hertfordshire for the box trees, which sometimes 

 reach a height of twenty feet, and the most should be made of such local factors. 



FIG. 344. POPLARS IN THEIR NATIVE ENVIRONMENT. 



266 



